By Janet Steffenhagen. Teach B.C. kids an Asian language, it urges.
Canada must invest heavily in education and skills training relevant to Asia if it hopes to compete in the new global economy, says a report to be released today by the Asia-Pacific Foundation.
That includes matching Australia's promise that every student will have an opportunity to learn Asian languages in elementary and secondary schools, even if it means drawing resources from other foreign-language programs, says the report, based on a survey of 374 Canadians who are active in Asia through business, professional or personal interests.
These Asia experts indicated solid support - 91 per cent - for a greater emphasis on Asian language instruction in K-12 schools, although that view isn't shared by the general public, said foundation president Yuen Pau Woo. A public opinion poll conducted by the foundation earlier this year suggests that only one-in-four Canadians also want more emphasis on teaching Asian languages in schools. Read more...

The Director of Liberia’s National Commission on Higher Education (NCHE) Dr. Michael Slewion is calling on the Liberia Medical and Dental Council (LMDC) not to incorporate Liberians-China trained medical doctors, because they are not up to the task.
In an interview with this paper yesterday, Dr. Slewion challenged the LMDC to conduct a thorough review of all the credentials of Liberians-China trained doctors prior to their assignment.
According to him, his office was informed that a number of Chinese health centers denied Liberian medical doctors the opportunity to practice on grounds that the Chinese institutions that trained them were quack.
Stressing the need to conduct proper research about scholarship beneficiaries and institutions they may be about to enroll at, the NCHE boss urged government to begin liaising with his office so as to have a unique vetting process. Read more...

By Uche Nnaike. The Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigeria (CVC) said at the weekend that Nigerians spend an average of $500 million annually on European and American universities. This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of a two-day Consultative Policy Dialogue on the Future and Relevance of the Nigerian Universities and other Tertiary Institutions, organised by CVC and Trust Africa, Dakar.
The communiqué, signed by Prof. Michael Faborode, noted that the amount was about 70 per cent of the total allocation in 2008 to all federal universities. It said this was an indication of the loss of faith in Nigerian universities as shown by the rush for foreign institutions, even to other African countries.
The committee noted that constant restiveness of students between host communities, school administration, weak governance structures and processes were some of the challenges facing the Nigerian Higher Education sector, reported the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
According to the communiqué, the challenge have contributed to the disruptions of the academic calendar, including the constant bickering between the academic staff union, other staff unions, university management and government. Read more...

By David Jobbins. Universities’ increasingly important revenues from international students are being seriously depleted by foreign exchange charges on fees and other transactions.
In the UK alone universities spend £34 million (US$54 million) a year in foreign exchange charges, given that approximately 35% of international students make up to three payments a year by international bank transfer at a charge of £6 a transaction, with the remainder using credit cards, which carry a 1.6% surcharge each time.
But using a new system established by a UK-based company, Uni-Pay, the costs are reduced to nothing. International students pay their fees in local currencies in their home countries and the university receives payments in domestic currency (Pounds Sterling in the case of the UK). More...

By Michael Gardner. Radical modernisers and educational traditionalists clashed at this year’s Online Educa Berlin (OEB) conference in Germany’s capital. Donald Clark, a director of the United Kingdom’s University for Industry, called for a new approach to accreditation.
Addressing the motto of this year’s OEB, “Reaching beyond Tomorrow”, participants discussed the motion that “a ban on diplomas and degrees awarded by schools and universities would have a positive impact on competence development and lifelong learning”.
Clark referred to two critical aspects in this context – developments in technology and their impact on course provision, and growing youth unemployment. Read more...

The Rolling Stones aren’t the only ones celebrating 50 years.
November also marks the 50th anniversary of the OECD Observer, the award-winning public magazine of the OECD. The brainchild of Thorkil Kristensen, the first secretary general of the organisation, the OECD Observer was launched at the 2nd ministerial meeting 27-28 November 1962. He recruited a former war resistant and political journalist from his native Denmark, Anker Randsholt, to do the job. The audience? Busy policymakers who had no time “to read more than a fraction” of the OECD’s already considerable and somewhat technical work.
In those post-war decades divulging information to the public was a delicate exercise. Policy had inched forward in a Cold War atmosphere of confidentiality, not to mention paranoia. Today, information is currency, and as Kristensen wrote in the first editorial, by ensuring the OECD Observer was distributed at the 1962 ministerial meeting, “a step was taken towards a wider dissemination of this [organisation’s] knowledge.”
In effect, the OECD Observer became a public gateway to the work of the Organisation. Along the way it would fill other roles: a podium for laying out and discussing policy messages and unlocking tough ideas; an academic reference; and a rich and compelling archive.
Flicking through old issues is like taking a trip through modern history. From a heartfelt obituary for John F. Kennedy penned by Kristensen in December 1963 through the landing on the moon in 1969, the oil crisis of the early 1970s, privatisation in the 1980s, the information revolution and globalisation in the 1990s, to the economic crisis now: the OECD Observer captures the story of our times. Read more...

The HEA is funding a workshop to guide academic promotion policy and practice in both the UK and Australia.
The benchmarking workshop takes place at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) and will bring together leading academics from Newcastle University, the University of Leicester, the University of Wollongong and UTAS.
The four institutions involved will be able to share information on and compare promotion policies and processes, as well as staff perceptions of promotion. It will develop a benchmarking framework to be shared at the Universities Australian Higher Education Conference in Canberra in February 2013 and at a UK conference in April.
Professor David Sadler, UTAS' Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Students and Learning), said: "This project builds on a HEA report in 2009 on reward and recognition and internationally recognised work at the University of Wollongong.
"The process includes the development of a self-review template with performance indicators and measures which can be applied across the higher education sector, national and internationally.
"The ultimate aim is to produce the resources to underpin the recognition of teaching as core to the assurance of standards in higher education."
Dr Jeanne Keay, Head of International Strategy at the Higher Education Academy, said: "Recognition of teaching excellence is at the heart of the HEA's work and the opportunity here to share our experience and learn from other models is important in taking a dynamic approach to further developing promotion policy and practice."
Professor Annette Cashmore from the University of Leicester is the UK project leader and Dr Chris Cane (Leicester) and Professors Stephen McHanwell and Sue Robson (Newcastle University) are also team members.
The external evaluator is Dorothy Whittington, Emeritus Professor, University of Ulster.
Seven UK and eight Australian universities are represented on the two international advisory groups. The UK international advisory group includes the HEA's Dr Jeanne Keay, Prof Gavin Brooks (University of Reading), Prof Mick Healey (Gloucestershire), Prof Janice Kay (Exeter), Prof Dai Hounsell (Edinburgh), Prof Allison Littlejohn (Glasgow Calendonia University) and Prof Nick Lieven (Bristol).

Edito du n° 2 de L'actu de Campus France
Depuis le 1er septembre dernier, les activités internationales du CNOUS ont été reprises entièrement par Campus France.
Le passage de relais a été réussi, dans un temps record, et pour tout le personnel de Campus France, c’est un motif légitime de fierté. En effet, seules sont restées à l’écart de ce transfert les conventions devenues entre temps inactives ou celles dont les mandants ont fait savoir qu’ils en assureraient eux-mêmes la gestion.
Cette réussite, qui marque l’achèvement de la phase de mise en place de l’Agence, vient couronner un travail de préparation minutieux et une mobilisation sans faille de toutes les équipes à Paris mais aussi dans les délégations régionales. La contribution décisive des équipes de la sous-direction des affaires internationales du CNOUS doit aussi être saluée.
L’Agence, qui exerce désormais la plénitude de ses missions, doit s’attacher à présent à poser le cadre qui permettra à la diversité de talents et d’expériences qui la compose d’oeuvrer ensemble à un même projet.
Trois chantiers revêtent à cet égard une grande importance: le site unique, l’accord d’entreprise et le projet d’entreprise. Le site de la Grange aux Belles a été choisi pour accueillir les équipes aujourd’hui réparties entre ce bâtiment et les locaux de l’avenue Denfert-Rochereau. Ce regroupement est indispensable pour créer un esprit collectif d’entreprise, pour permettre le rapprochement des métiers et faciliter la circulation des expériences. Le lieu a été choisi en raison de ses caractéristiques techniques et de l’esprit d’ouverture et d’accueil que symbolise son architecture.
En ce qui concerne l’accord d’entreprise, il est en cours de discussion avec les délégations syndicales représentatives depuis la mi-septembre afin d’unifier dans un même texte tous les statuts existants et renforcer l’unité de l’établissement. Enfin le projet d’entreprise permettra de construire une identité de l’Agence, essentielle à sa cohésion et à son dynamisme, dans un processus de réflexion participatif, à partir d’une vision commune de ses valeurs, de ses missions, de ses objectifs et de ses engagements.
Simultanément, Campus France poursuit le renforcement de ses partenariats avec les établissements d’enseignement supérieur (le Forum Campus France devrait voir officiellement le jour en décembre), avec les entreprises et les régions. Son activité dans le domaine de la promotion de nos formations supérieures et de la gestion des programmes de mobilité continue de se développer: après le Brésil, la Libye et le Pérou ont choisi l’Agence pour organiser les parcours d’études en France de leurs boursiers. La capacité de Campus France à placer des cohortes importantes d’étudiants, aux niveaux L, M ou D, renforce l’attractivité du label Campus France sous lequel travaille aussi le réseau des Espaces Campus France.
Maintenir la France au centre des flux de la mobilité internationale des étudiants et des chercheurs est essentiel pour la diplomatie d’influence, a souligné le Ministre des Affaires étrangères, Laurent Fabius, lors de la conférence des Ambassadeurs en août dernier. L’Agence Campus France, s’appuyant sur le réseau des Espaces, met toute son expertise au service de cette grande ambition. Antoine Grassin, Directeur général.
Rentrée des boursiers 2012-2013: reprise par Campus France de l’activité internationale du CNOUS
Le passage de relais entre le CNOUS et Campus France a eu lieu comme prévu le 1er septembre 2012.
Campus France a réalisé cette reprise d’activité en un temps record, puisqu’à peine plus de 6 mois se sont écoulés entre le début du projet et son aboutissement. Deux chantiers se sont déroulés en parallèle: la signature de nouvelles conventions avec les clients du CNOUS, et la mise en oeuvre d’un processus informatique permettant de transférer l’ensemble des dossiers du système d’information du CNOUS vers celui de Campus France. Ces travaux ont mobilisé d’importants moyens humains et techniques, dans les équipes en charge des programmes de mobilité, des systèmes d’information et de la comptabilité.
Mis à part un nombre très limité de partenaires qui ont expressément signifié leur volonté de passer à un autre mode de gestion, tous les programmes de bourses ont fait l’objet d’une renégociation des accords passés avec le CNOUS, avec l’aide précieuse des Postes diplomatiques.
Cinquante conventions ont ainsi été signées ou seront finalisées dans les toutes prochaines semaines. Parmi les principaux programmes de bourses concernés par ce transfert: le ministère des Affaires étrangères pour les bourses du gouvernement français, l’Agence pour l’enseignement français à l’étranger (AEFE), les gouvernements gabonais, vietnamien, irakien, mexicain et malien, la Fondation vénézuélienne Fundayacucho, l’Alliance Française d’Almaty (Kazakhstan), la compagnie Yemen LNG ou la banque espagnole Caixa de Barcelona.
Dans le même temps, Campus France a étudié dans le détail l’application informatique du CNOUS afin d’en maîtriser les fonctionnalités, puis a développé un processus informatique pour transférer ses données dans le système d’information de Campus France.
Ce processus a été mis en oeuvre pour plusieurs milliers d’étudiants, qu’il s’agisse des boursiers du gouvernement français ou des boursiers de gouvernements étrangers au fur et à mesure de la signature des conventions. Ceci afin de pouvoir fournir aux étudiants les prestations souhaitées par les clients, en particulier le paiement de leur bourse.
Le point d’orgue de ces travaux a eu lieu le week-end du 1er septembre 2012, date officielle de reprise des programmes de bourses du CNOUS. À cette date, tous les étudiants pour lesquels un feu vert avait été donné ont été pris en charge et ont pu recevoir leur bourse, avec une parfaite continuité de service.
Cette première étape importante est désormais franchie, mais les efforts ne se relâchent pas pour autant. La prise de contact individuelle avec plusieurs milliers d’étudiants déjà présents en France l’accueil des nouveaux boursiers, la question cruciale de leur hébergement, les échanges avec les établissements d’enseignement supérieur qui les accueillent, les relations de confiance à tisser avec de nouveaux partenaires… Autant de chantiers qui continueront à mobiliser de manière intense les équipes de Campus France tout au long de l’année universitaire.

The IAU 14th General Conference (held at Inter American University of Puerto Rico, in San Juan, Puerto Rico) elected the new IAU President and Administrative Board members who will lead the Association for the next 4 years. Prof. Juan Ramon de la Fuente steps down as President and joins the Board as immediate past president. Prof. Goolam Mohamedbhai, IAU President from 2004-2008 joins the IAU Honorary Presidents, two of whom were on hand at the General Conference. Prof. Dzulkifli Abdul Razak, past IAU Vice President, former VC of the University of Science Malaysia and currently VC of Albukhary International University also in Malaysia becomes the 14th IAU President. Within the next few days, brief biographies and photographs of all IAU Board and Deputy Board members will also be posted online.

By Jan Petter Myklebust. The impact of controls on recruitment of Congolese and Chinese students to Belgian higher education institutions has been significant, according to a report prepared with the support of the European Commission.
In the period since 2004 covered by the report, Congolese nationals were said to be using forged documentation to obtain a university place, while a rapid rise in the number of Chinese students – to a fifth of all international students in the country – prompted claims that they were working illegally in the restaurant industry.
The report, Migration of International Students to Belgium 2000-2012: Striking a balance between migration management and actively attracting students from third countries for the purposes of study and research, set out to examine the patterns of recruitment of international students, both to French-speaking institutions and to universities in the Flemish region, following the increased opportunities due to Bologna degree reforms and the increasing number of courses taught in English. Read more...